ZAMBOANGA CITY - A government official and a human rights group expressed alarm over the series of discoveries of cadavers in Zamboanga City within the past two weeks, who authorities believed were victims of summary executions also called “salvaging” in the Philippines.

The victims reportedly bore semblance of torture and similar wounds, that investigators believed caused their deaths.

On Thursday, a body of a dead person, the sixth since March 15, believed to be summarily executed was found in a bushy area in Sitio Luyahan in Barangay Pasonanca.

The victim was found with the entire face covered with packaging tape, severe wounds in the head and eyes, possible knife and bullet wounds in his torso while hands and feet were hogtied by nylon. Just like previous discoveries, the victim did not have any identification and only only wore underwear when found by residents.

Police said some residents heard gun shots the night before in the vicinity. “The residents who did not wish to be identified said they saw a white van. They suspect that this victim was still alive when he was brought here in the crime scene, and was eventually killed,” Senior Police Officer 1 Alex Antonio said.

The police also said they found tire tracks that proved there was a vehicle used. The same type of vehicle was also believed used in the incidents where two cadavers were also found in Barangay Cabaluay and Mercedes, on March 11 and 13 respectively.

Amnesty International, an independent group that investigates summary and extrajudicial killings in the country, expressed alarm over the series of possible human rights violations. Reden Silven, an official of the Amnesty International in Zamboanga City said he would ask AI secretariat to initiate an immediate investigation on the matter.

“We hope that the local government attend to this seriously,” he said.

A public official also pointed out that there could be grounds for an inquiry on the spate of killings, since the style and the manner the dead victims were found have similar features indicating that a group may be involved.

“Of course, this would entail much police investigation to point out the real suspects. But this has to stop,” said Councilor Melchor Rey Sadain, Sangguniang Panlunsod’s Committee on Human Rights chair.

The Commission on Human Rights define summary execution or “salvaging” as an act of “summarily” ending a person’s life. “It’s putting the law into one’s hands,” said lawyer Manuel Mamauag, regional director of CHR.

Among the six believed to be victims of summary execution, two were already claimed by families from a government-commissioned private funeral parlor.